A tip with this one - look at the centre arrangement of canes called a 'stone' if you click on Frank's Website link you will see another link to Ysart stones

You will probably agree many look similar to the stone in this paperweight

Ysart left a lot of these stones behind when he left Caithness (most used up by 1974) - Peter Holmes took over & Willy Manson set such similar stones in some lovely weights (pp16 new Caithness book by C Terris 2nd edition) - I am not saying this is a Caithness by Manson or Holmes, just be wary - for a while I thought this was a Ysart http://tinypic.com/ddgs9y.jpg (in mentioned book) - it has a polished flat base as well

They were also used in the Caithness jewellery well after Ysart left - sometimes guys decided to have a go setting them in paperweights - that’s where you have to look at the rest of the weight does it fulfil the promise of the central stone - I think maybe, but I have my doubts with the bubbles, Ysart usually set them so well at the allotted points, these are all over the place - there is other stuff .... but guys like KevH & Frank will inform you better

Logged

David is my Father's name, 555 is the number of man ('The Pixies'), but please call me ADAM P.

Unfortunately, I don't normally comment on attributions for active auctions (particularly if I might be thinking about bidding :!: ).

But I will say that the style of cane in the centre of the offered weight could be found in work by virtually all of the main Scottish makers from the 1930s to the present day. That centre cane, as well as all others, would need to be matched precisely to other known examples in order to draw a conclusion.

The starting bid for this weight is now £200. Perhaps that is the "reserve", although a reserve seemed not to be part of the first listing of this piece? Whether it is worth £200 is up to whoever, if anyone, buys it.

Against my normal "rules" I will make the following comments so that if anyone reading this is interested in the weight, they have a fair idea of what it is (in my opinion only, of course).

The overall features indicate that it is an early Vasart (Ysart Brothers period, 1946 - 1956). It might be a 1930s piece, although I feel that is not likely. The quiite neat setting of the canes, although a bit untidy in places, would suggest to many folk that it could be a weight by Salvador Ysart.

Most of the canes are known (by me) in other early (and later) Vasart work. Perhaps the most interesting cane is the yellow-black one, which featured in my talk at Perth, where I showed the same cane in both Paul Ysart and Vasart items. This indicates to me that this cane, and others, may have been made by Paul (or Salvador?) in the 30s, but when the split came, some went in the direction of Vasart. More "shared" canes are slowly coming light in the work of Paul Ysart and Vasart!

The centre cane in this weight is only known to me (so far) in Vasart pieces.